An afternoon or evening of poker playing involves playing a number of individual poker "games." Each game usually takes from 1-2 minutes to 5-10 minutes. The goal of each game is to win the "pot", the accumulated bets of each player in that game. (The pot is started at the beginning of the game by each player placing a chip into the pot; this is called the "ante.") Unless you are playing "high/low" poker, the player with the highest "hand" at the end of each game wins the pot. (A list of possible hands, from lowest to highest, appears below.) If you are playing high/low poker, the pot is split at the end of the game between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand.

A game is played by distributing cards to all players; while the cards are distributed, players make bets into the pot based on the cards they have received. At the end of the game, each player tries to make the best possible hand from the cards distributed to them. After the winner(s) have been determined, the cards are collected and re-shuffled, all players ante into a new pot, and a new game is played.

Different poker games stem from different ways to distribute the cards, different bets, and "wild" cards (certain cards that can be used as any other card in the deck). Depending on the exchange rate (the number of chips you can get per dollar), you can lose or win from around a dollar up to $20 or more in a given night. If you're playing with high rollers, your winnings/losings can be much higher.

There is actually an order to suits; clubs is the lowest suit, followed by diamonds, followed by hearts, and spades is the highest suit. Depending on your hand, the suit of your cards may determine the winner of a game. (For example, if two players have a "flush" (which is 5 cards of the same suit), a diamond flush will beat a clubs flush, a hearts flush will beat a diamond or clubs flush, and a spades flush will beat a hearts, diamonds, or clubs flush.

There are 52 different cards in a poker deck: thirteen different groups of cards, designated by numbers or letters, with one card from each suit with that number or letter. There are nine numbered cards (2-10); three face cards, known as the "court" (Jack, Queen, and King, each denoted by the first letter of the word (J, Q, and K)); and an Ace (denoted as A). Just as there is an order to cards, there is an order to suits; in most poker games, 2 is the lowest card, followed by 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, then the jacks, then the queens, then the kings, with the ace as the highest card.

Special cards: Some of the cards in a poker deck have special names.

Look at the four jacks. Notice that two of them - the jack of hearts and jack of spades - have only one eye showing, and the other two have both eyes showing. The jack of hearts and jack of spades are called the "one-eyed jacks."


Look at the four kings. Notice that the king of hearts has a knife in his head! (The other three have weapons near their heads, but not actually in them.) The king of hearts is called the "suicide king."

Wild cards: In some poker games, one or more cards are declared "wild." If you have a wild card in your hand, you can use that card in place of any other card in the deck. For instance, say you're plaing a game of poker, and 2s are declared to be wild for that game, or one-eyed jacks may be declared wild. For instance, if you had the 5 of clubs, 5 of diamonds, 5 of spades, and a wild card, you could use that wild card as the 5 of hearts and have four of a kind (a very good poker hand). You can also use a wild card as it is; e.g., if 2s are wild, and you get the two of hearts, you can use it as any card, including the two of hearts.

One thing to note about wild cards is that wild cards change from game to game. Don't assume that a card will be wild in a game just because it was wild the game before. You should always ask the dealer what's wild if you're not sure.

Important note about the ace: The ace can be either the highest card in the deck or the lowest card in the deck. For instance, if you have a straight (5 cards in sequential order, regardless of suit), the ace can be at the bottom of the straight (e.g., A-2-3-4-5) or at the top (e.g., 10-J-Q-K-A). There are other games (for example, 7-card stud, low hole card wild) where the ace must be either high or low, but not both. In these games, the dealer will "call" the ace either high or low when he/she announces the game. (e.g., "OK, we're playing 7-card stud, low hole card wild, fours are wild, aces high.")

When you sit down, determine who the "banker" is; he or she will be the one to take your money and give you your chips. (The banker will also give you back your money at the end of the game.) The banker will tell you the "exchange rate" for the game, i.e., how many chips you can get for a dollar. If you're playing "nickel dime quarter," one chip is worth a penny; therefore, a 5-chip chip is worth 5 cents, a 10-chip chip is worth 10 cents, and a 25-chip chip is worth 25 cents. This is also called one for a penny.

Be sure to ask the banker what the different chip denominations are before you begin to play.

Poker can also be played with change, marbles, sticks, pretzels, or almost anything else. However, a "real" poker game will almost always use chips or actual money (nickels, dimes, pennies, quarters, dollars, hundreds, etc.)

The player who is dealing may choose to play the game of his or her choice, and will annouce the game to the other players. Before the dealer announces his or her game, however, the dealer should thoroughly mix the deck and ask the player to the dealer's right to cut the deck (i.e., split the deck into two parts without looking; the dealer will take the bottom half and put it on top of the top half). The player may either cut the deck or just tell the dealer to deal with the deck as-is.

When the dealer announces his or her game, he or she should also announce whether any cards are wild, and if so, what those cards are. For instance, you would say "fives are wild", or if nothing at all is wild, you would say, "nothing wild." You must announce what cards are wild before looking at your cards or before anyone else looks at their cards; if not, it's a misdeal (see below), and you must collect the cards and re-deal.

Once the dealer has announced the game, he or she must not deal until every player has anted, or placed their initial chips into the pot. The ante is sort of a "cover charge" for playing the game, which starts the pot. (The expression for when not everyone has anted is "the pot's shy"; you can say this when someone has forgotten to ante up.)

Once everyone has anted, the dealer will start dealing cards from the deck. The dealer should deal clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left. The dealer is almost always the last player to receive a card. If you are dealing and someone throws cards back to you (discards some of the cards in that player's hand), always put them on the bottom of the deck, and never put them on the top of the deck. In some poker games, the dealer will have to exchange cards in the player's hands with fresh cards from the deck, and you don't want to deal out someone's discards.

Also, when you deal, the dealer often calls the cards that are dealt and notes what each player has showing. In other words, the dealer would say, "OK. Five, an ace...that makes three aces, a seven on the pair of eights showing, a four, and a king for the dealer" if he/she deals a five, then an ace, then a seven, then a four, and a king to himself/herself.

Hole cards and cards on the table: Depending on the game you play, you will receive some cards face up and some face down. The cards you have in your hand which are face up are called your "up" cards. The cards you have in your hand which are face down are called your "hole" cards or "down" cards; you must never show your hole cards to another player who has not folded. The cards in your hand which are face up are called your "cards on the table"; you should never pick these cards up and put them with your hole cards until the game is over and you are determining your highest hand.

Misdeals: If the dealer accidentally skips a person, or forgets to call a wild card until after a player has looked at his or her card, then the dealer has misdealed. The cards should be collected, and the dealer should re-deal the cards.

Order of betting: The player with the highest hand showing (in stud games) or the player to the left of the dealer (in draw games) bets first (in poker lingo, he/she "opens the bet"). Each subsequent player has three options:

Depending on the rules for your poker get-together, there may be a maximum amount by which you can raise, or a maximum number of raises per bet.

The betting ends when all players have called the current bet. When this happens, the next card is dealt, or if you have reached the end of the game, all players show their hands and determine the winner.

Hands are made up of combinations of two different combinations of cards: groups and runs. A group is two or more cards of the same number or suit (for example, the 2 of clubs and the 2 of hearts, or the 4 and 8 of diamonds). A run is two or more cards in sequential order, regardless of suit (e.g., A-2-3-4-5, or 7-8-9-10-J, or 10-J-Q-K-A).

Here is the order of hands, from the lowest possible hand to the highest possible hand. In these diagrams, "any card" indicates any other card, and "wild card" indicates a wild card (remember, wild cards can replace any of the cards shown).

Hand	Example
Nothing! No groups, no runs Worst possible hand	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: Not bad Note: An Ace-2-3-4-6 is the lowest possible hand.
One pair 1 group of 2 cards with the same number	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 2 1/3
Two pair 2 groups of 2 cards with the same number	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 20
Three of a kind 1 group of 3 cards	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 50
Straight 1 run of 5 cards	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 250 Note: A straight is referred to by the top card; this is a jack high straight.
Flush 1 group of 5 cards of the same suit	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 500
Full house 1 group of 2 cards of the same number, 1 group of 3 cards of the same number	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 700 Note: A full house with aces and eights is called the "dead man's hand."
Four of a Kind 1 group of 4 cards of the same number	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 4,000
Straight flush A straight which is also a flush	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 65,000
Royal flush Straight flush with the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and ace Best possible hand	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: 1 in 650,000
5 of a kind 1 group of 5 cards of the same number - only possible with wild cards	Odds of being dealt with no wild cards: Impossible Note: Not all players play with 5 of a kind. Check with the other players before you start.

Important note about royal flush and 5 of a kind: Some players play that a royal flush beats every other hand, including 5 of a kind. In this case, the top hands would be, from lowest to highest, four of a kind; straight flush; 5 of a kind; and royal flush. You should check with the other players before you start to determine which order of hands you will be using.

How to tell 'em what you have: When you tell the other players what your hand is, you should tell them both what type of hand you have and what the cards and/or suit you have. This is because if two players have the same hand, you look to the card numbers or suit to determine the winner. (See below.) Here's what you should say for each hand:

One pair: "Pair of [number on the pair]." (E.g., "Pair of fives.")

Two pair: "Two pair, [number on the higher pair] over [number on the lower pair]." (E.g., "Two pair, kings over eights.")

Three of a kind: "Three [number on the group]." (E.g., "Three aces.")

Straight: "[number of the highest card in the run] high straight." (E.g., "Jack high straight.")

Flush: "[Suit of the flush] flush." (E.g., "Spades flush.")

Full house: "Full house, [number on the group of three] over [number on the group of two]." (E.g., "Full house, tens over sixes.")

Four of a kind: "Four [number on the group]." (E.g., "four nines.")

Straight flush: "Straight flush, [highest card in the straight] high." (E.g., "Straight flush, eight high.")

Royal flush: "Royal flush." (Odds are, you won.)

Five of a kind: "Five [number on the group]." (E.g., "Five eights.")

What if two players have the highest hand (e.g., two players have a full house or a straight)? In this case, you look at either the numbers on the cards or the suit of the cards to determine who has the higher hand. Remember, suits and cards are also ranked from lowest to highest; if your hand has higher-numbered cards or is in a higher suit, you beat the other player's hand.

All hands except two pair, straights, flushes, full houses, straight flushes, and royal flushes: If two players have the same hand, the player with the highest numbered groups wins. (Example: Two players have three of a kind. If one player has three fives, and the other has three jacks, three jacks beats three fives.)

Two pair: Here, the player with the highest group wins. (Example: Two players have two pair. If one player has a pair of nines and the other has a pair of twos, a pair of nines beats a pair of twos.)

Straight: Here, the player with the straight that ends on the highest number wins. (Example: Two players have straights. If one player has a nine high straight and the other has a queen high straight, the queen high straight wins.) In the off-chance that two players have a straight that ends on the same numbered card, the player with the highest card in the second position wins; if that's also the same, then look at the third card, then the fourth, then the fifth. (If two people have identical straights, they split the pot and realize that they just beat astronomical odds of that happening.)

Flush, straight flush, and royal flush: Here, the player with the highest suit flush wins. (Example: Two players have a flush. If one player has a clubs flush and the other has a hearts flush, the hearts flush wins.) For straight flushes, if two players have a straight flush in the same suit, the highest straight wins. For flushes, in the off-chance that two players have flushes in the same suit, the player with the highest numbered card wins.

Full house: Here, the player with the highest group of three wins. (Example: Two players have full houses. If one player has tens over sixes, and the other has nines over eights, then the first player wins.) If both players have the same group of 3 cards (remember, if there's wild cards then this is possible), then the player with the higher group of 2 wins. If those are also the same, the two players split the pot.

Both stud poker and draw poker games can involve either 5 cards or 7 cards; your options are 5-card draw poker, 5-card stud poker, 7-card draw poker, and 7-card stud poker. Most of the basic poker games fit one of these four categories.

Games can also include wild cards. The dealer will announce any wild cards when he or she announces the game to be played.

Any poker game can be played in one of two ways: high only or high/low. If a poker game is played high only, the highest hand wins the entire pot. If a game is played high/low, then the pot is split between the person with the highest possible hand and the person with the lowest possible hand. (Remember, the lowest possible hand is no pairs, no flushes, no straights, just 5 cards. The lowest 5 cards wins. The lowest hand possible is an Ace-2-3-4-6.

Your "tell": Almost every poker player has a certain mannerism that they exhibit when they think they've got a good hand, and another one when they think they have a bad one. For example, someone may furrow his/her brow when that person has a good hand; another person might tap his foot; another might stroke his beard; another might just stop talking and get serious; another might start raising heavily; another may just start to smile or hum. A player's tell can be a death blow to his/her ability to do well at the poker table.

You should try to learn the tells of each of the other players at the table with you; that way, if you can tell someone has a good hand, and you don't have the strongest hand, you may want to consider folding. Conversely, if you have a middle-of-the-road hand, but by reading the other players you can tell that they're not so sure of their hands, it might be worth staying in.

Keep a poker face! You should work hard to try to identify your own tell and learn how to suppress it. You should learn to not reveal anything with any of your mannerisms. When you can do this, it's called having a poker face. This will reduce your chances of giving away your hand until you show your cards at the end of the game.

Bluffing is when you try to mislead the other players about the strength of your hand in order to hopefully get them to believe you've got a stronger hand than they do, so they either fold or make mistakes in drawing cards. The best way to learn how to bluff well is to get to know your own tell. If you know what other players are looking for when you have a good hand, by exhibiting those mannerisms you'll be able to easily fool them into thinking you've got a great hand.

Don't comment on another player's cards or play.

Don't forget to flip your cards face-down when you fold.

Don't forget to mix the deck before you deal when you're dealing, and don't forget to cut the deck for the player to your left.

Unless you have folded, don't get up from the poker table in the middle of the game without asking permission from the other players; you'll hold up play.

Five-card draw poker: Draw poker with five cards; wild cards can be used.

Seven-card draw poker: Draw poker with seven cards; wild cards can be used.

Five-card stud poker: Stud poker with five cards; one card is dealt down, then three up (you bet after each up card), then one more down card (you bet after this card too).

Seven-card stud poker: Stud poker with seven cards; two cards are dealt down, then four up (you bet after each up card), then one more down card (you bet after this card too).

Baseball: Seven-card stud, with threes and nines wild; a three face up costs 25 chips to keep it, but a three in the hole is free. (Nines are always free.) A four face up means you get an extra card in the hole.